COBE Images

Artist's Conception-
The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft is the predecessor to the WMAP Project. COBE was launched by NASA into an Earth Orbit in 1989 to make a full sky map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation leftover from the Big Bang. The first results were released in 1992. COBE's limited resolution (7 degree wide beam) provided the first tantilising details in a full sky image of the CMB.